October Newsletter-MPact Reception, Peer Exchange, and FTA Grants

Barbie, Barbeque, and Streetcar

Kansas City Peer Exchange with Fort Worth

Tom Gerend and his KC Streetcar team shared their experience building and maintaining a successful streetcar with Fort Worth officials and Trinity Metro this week. The Fort Worth contingent was taken on a tour of the streetcar line on the Barbie Dream Streetcar, ate some good Kansas City barbeque, and heard presentations from Mayor Lucas, former Mayor James, Board Members David Johnson and Matt Staub, as well as Gerend and Donna Mandelbaum.

If you and your community are interested in learning more about how communities like Kansas City successfully built a streetcar line or how you can expand an existing line, please reach out to Christy Willhite, christy@streeetcarcoalition.org.

CSC Reception at Mpact Transit + Community Conference

Make plans to join us a the Mpact Conference in Phoenix on November 6 for the mobile workshop- MW13 Discover Vibrant Tempe Via Modern Streetcar. The workshop will run from 2-5 PM and end with a reception, sponsored by the Coalition at Whole Foods in Tempe, where we'll hear from Congressman Blumenauer.

You don't have to be on the tour to come to the reception. Join us at Whole Foods in Tempe (on the streetcar line) around 5 PM.

FTA Announcements:

Webinar for FTA Rail Vehicle Replacement Funding Opportunity

Join FTA at a webinar next month to learn about a $197 million competitive funding opportunity that will help replace aging railcars, improving reliability, safety, and accessibility on the nation’s rail transit systems.

Potential applicants to the Fiscal Year 2024 Rail Vehicle Replacement Program are welcome to attend the webinar below. FTA staff will discuss funding amounts, eligibility requirements, the application process and the evaluation criteria during the webinar.

Rail Vehicle Replacement Program Webinar Thursday, November 2, 2023, | 1:30PM ET Webinar

FTA to Host Transit Asset Management Peer Discussion

FTA’s Transit Asset Management (TAM) Program is continuing a series of peer programs for transit agency staff. The next session, a virtual discussion on Setting TAM Performance Targets, will take place Thursday, November 30. The 90-minute program, which starts at 2 p.m. ET, will provide a forum for participants to discuss setting targets to meet agency goals. The virtual discussion is limited to 10 participants, with the goal of getting a broad representation of roles and transit agencies. Applications are due by 8pm (Eastern) on November 2, 2023.

Discussion forum participants should be transit agency staff who are responsible for managing transit assets and contribute to fleet management planning or related practices. Participants should be well-versed in their agency’s asset management policies and processes and be willing to share ideas on performance targets. To be considered for the discussion forum, and for more information, view the application form.

FTA Announces Notice of Funding Opportunity for Accelerating Advanced Digital Construction Management Systems

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced the availability of approximately $5.1 million in competitive grant funds to support a new research initiative that will demonstrate advanced digital construction management tools to improve management of transit construction projects. FTA’s Accelerating Advanced Digital Construction Management Systems program will promote field-tested advanced digital platforms to deliver transit projects faster and cheaper.

Eligible grant applicants include transit agencies, private for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, state or local government entities, and academic institutions. The successful applicant will identify and demonstrate at least two advanced digital construction management systems and work with transit agencies to document best practices for applying the advanced digital construction management tools for transit construction projects.

Applications must be submitted online through grants.gov and are due by February 10, 2024. FTA will host a webinar for interested organizations on Thursday, October 26, 2023, at 4pm Eastern time. Register for the webinar. Learn more in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

FTA Update of CPI Adjustment for CE projects receiving limited Federal Assistance

To comply with Section 11317 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (Public Law 117-58), FTA has adjusted the annual monetary thresholds for the limited Federal financial assistance categorical exclusions (CE) established by FHWA and FTA in regulation. FTA incorporated the adjustment for inflation on October 1, 2023. The adjusted figures for CE projects receiving limited Federal assistance are now available on FTA’s CE webpage.

If you have any questions regarding FTA’s CEs, please contact your FTA Regional Office.

News from the Membership Working Group

APTA Modern Streetcar Guidelines

This month, Carl Jackson, Vice Chair of CSC, shared a document he contributed to while serving on APTA's Streetcar Subcommittee back in 2013. While some of you will recognize the document, it will be new to many of you. Definitely worth dusting off and reviewing. READ MORE

Have You Taken the Legislative Working Group's Survey?

Please take a few minutes to help us develop a useful legislative agenda.

Legislative Survey

STREETCARS IN THE NEWS

TECO Line Streetcar Posts Record Ridership

floridapolitics.com

The TECO Line Streetcar has set record ridership in the past year with 1,315,103 passenger trips from Oct. 1, 2022 through Sept. 30, 2023, the highest annual ridership in the service’s more than 20 years of operation.

The annual record comes after the Streetcar broke several monthly ridership records over the past year, including the best month in its history in March with 127,863 passenger trips.

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART), which operates the Streetcar, attributes the recent popularity to an increase in service frequency to every 12 minutes during peak hours, as well as population growth along the Streetcar route and near record tourism in downtown Tampa.

“We are elated to be celebrating another year of record ridership on the Streetcar,” HART interim CEO Scott Drainville said. “The success of the Streetcar is a result of our community coming together to invest in public transportation.”

How El Paso’s Streetcars Rose Again

nextcity.org

In 2010, El Paso native and photographer Peter Svarzbein had a vision for bringing El Paso’s streetcars back to life.

For his graduate thesis at the New York City School of Visual Arts, Svarzbein created The El Paso Transnational Trolley Project — a conceptual advertising campaign imagining the return of the iconic streetcar running between El Paso and its sister city in Mexico, Juarez, as it used to throughout most of the 20th century.

Cincinnati Streetcar Hits Annual Ridership Record — What Comes Next?

wcpo.com

The Cincinnati streetcar has passed another yearly ridership record with months left in 2023 to go.

City data shows 849,161 trips through September, which tops the 846,622 trips for all of 2022.

“In general, people are more used to the system,” said Lori Burchett, deputy director of Streetcar Services.

Burchett said the city is seeing more new riders, as well as boosts from major events like the Taylor Swift concert and Bengals games.

“Mostly, I use it for going to Kroger,” said Alice Caplinger, who rides a few times each week. “Or just on Sundays going to The Banks.”

You Can Ride a Vintage Streetcar Through Gorgeous Landscapes in Ontario

blogTO.com

There are tons of unique ways to celebrate the fall season in Ontario, including gondola rides and hot air balloon trips above the treetops.

If heights aren't your thing, how does riding a vintage TTC streetcar down a scenic railway track sound? The Halton County Radial Railway in the town of Campbellsville lets you do exactly that, offering rides to the public on old-fashioned streetcars down Ontario's first electric railway.

Community Streetcar Coalition